A Secret Atlas (7 page)

indicated he had not abandoned the combative skills that kept him alive in the wilds.

Before Jorim could say anything, the blindfolded man laughed. “Oh, yes, very good. Cats,

the
pride
of your sanctuary. Splendid joke, Highness; marvelous. Many shall enjoy it

during this Festival.”

Cyron frowned. “Who is this, and why is he here?”

Qiro smiled in a manner that would have taken seventy years off his age, were it not for

the feral light playing through his eyes. “This is Jesbor Gryst, and he has with him

something quite remarkable. I have already purchased it, and with it our domination of the

world will go unchallenged.”

Cyron’s frown deepened as Qiro retreated to a side table and pointed to a mahogany box.

The lid had been lifted, and as the Prince approached he saw that two panes of glass

separated by a piece of wood had been placed over the box’s lower portion. Each pane

revealed the face of a clock, and each clock was set to the proper time.

“This will allow us to dominate the world?” Cyron folded his arms over his chest. “I do not

think a pair of clocks will daunt Prince Pyrust’s legions, and I already know very well how

fast they are capable of moving.”

“You don’t understand, Highness.” Qiro whirled away from him and approached the wall

map. “Our ships, Highness, have sailed far from here. We have outlined the continent

from here to Aefret and we do our best to draw accurate maps. Were we to compare this

map with those from a hundred years ago, you would see quite a difference.”

He pointed toward the top of the map and drew his hand down. “Our charts are

devastatingly accurate in the dimensions of north and south. Why is this? Latitude is

simple to calculate, Highness. Measure a shadow at noon and anyone with rudimentary

geometry skills can determine how far north or south of the equator they are. It is a simple

matter to determine your location.

“East and west, however, are more difficult. North and south have an agreed-upon and

fixed point of reference: the equator. We have a pole star to the north to guide us as well,

and I am certain we shall locate such in the south, possibly above the Mountains of Ice, if

they exist. The point from which east and west are measured, however, is arbitrary.”

Cyron shook his head. “All maps have Moriande as that point. Wentokikun, to be exact.”

“
Our
maps, yes, but Deseirion uses Felarati for their charts, and Erumvirine uses Keluwan as their demarcator. But which point is used is unimportant, because the problem is

determining the distance between a point and another.”

The Prince looked from Qiro back to his grandsons, then the blindfolded man. “But you

have made surveys. You have had people pace the distance.”

Qiro spun, the sleeves and tails of his gold overshirt flaring. “Exactly, Highness, but we

have no one who can walk on water to pace it. Our ships, while they can mark their speed,

have trouble marking the speed and direction of currents. All maps, mine included, contain

a paradox, for if we take the time it takes to get to Aefret from here, we have one distance.

If we mark the time it takes for the return, we have another. We have, in the past, played

with the differences and estimated the speed of currents, but even so, that is inexact. A

single storm can render any speed-and-direction data useless.”

The Prince nodded slowly. “I believe I understand the problem. How is this the solution?”

Qiro clapped his hands. “Jesbor Gryst, please explain this device.”

“Well, Highness, first I must say it is not mine. I did not invent it; my son did. You see, I

repair things, and my son, Borosan, always studied what I did, but he took it further. He

became interested in the new art of
gyanri,
though there is no school for it here.”

Cyron nodded, then appended, “Of course,” since the man could not see.
Gyanri
was the

art of new magic—calculated, mechanical magic. The tradition of training to

reach
jaedunto
was revered throughout the Nine, but Nalenyr and Erumvirine had the best schools and so benefited the most from it. Other nations had begun to embrace
gyanri,
in which mechanical devices used magical energy—mostly residue of the Cataclysm—to

power them. A sword imbued with magical energy would allow an untrained warrior to fight

skillfully, at least until that energy wore out. A hundred enchanted swords were cheaper to

produce than a single
jaecaiserr
. While none of the warriors using those swords would be particularly good, few were the swordsmen who became Mystics. In a war of

attrition,
gyanri
might well overwhelm masters of the old art.

“Well, Highness, Borosan had an idea for a device that would allow one to communicate

via writing over a long distance. He went off with it, and told me to look for a message

every noon, which I did, but no message came. My son was frustrated, for the device

seemed to work from one side of a room to the other, but not when he took it far away.”

“Fascinating, Master Gryst. This, on the table, is the device?”

“No, Highness; dear me, no.” The man smiled, clasping his hands together tightly at his

belt. “You see, my son realized that I would be looking for his message at noon in the

capital, but he was sending at noon from wherever he was. If he was north or south of the

capital, it would work. So, what he did was invent this clock. It is a work of
gyanri
. It uses
thaumston
to power it. He made two clocks in case one were damaged or needed

more
thaumston,
and set both to the capital time. You see, when he went away, he would send the message according to the time in the capital.”

The Prince’s mouth hung open for a moment. Qiro had made his passion for the dual

clocks apparent, but whatever it would allow him to do was nothing compared to this other

device described. If the Prince could instantaneously converse with others far away, such

as military commanders in the field, he would be able to coordinate defenses and stop an

invasion quickly.

“Does this device work?”

“The clocks work perfectly, Highness.”

“No, no, the communication device. Does it work?”

Jesbor shook his head. “My son has not perfected it. He is, even now, traveling and

working on it. I think he understood some of the message I tried to send him, for his last

wished your Highness the joy of the Festival.”

“That’s very nice of him, but if he is out somewhere, what is his dual clock doing here?”

The tinker smiled. “Oh, well, Highness, Borosan tired of hauling that big chest around, so

he just made a smaller one, more accurate. Fits in a pouch. He’s clever, my son.”

Too clever to be out wherever he is.
The Prince looked at Qiro. “The dual clock helps you how?” Cyron held a hand up and forced himself to think. “Wait, wait. If you are away from

the capital, and you look at these clocks at noon where you are, you see the difference in

time. That difference in time you translate into miles.”

Qiro clapped his hands delightedly, but the tightness around his eyes suggested a bit of

displeasure. “Yes, Highness, you have it perfectly. With this device we can accurately

chart the oceans. We can venture into places where no one has gone before.”

He turned back to the map and laid his hand against the blank expanse of ocean. “Untold

treasures lie here, I am certain, and they will be ours. I need your permission, Highness, to

outfit the
Stormwolf
with this dual clock and launch it as soon as possible. With the data we recover, our ships will be able to go everywhere. We can colonize new lands, discover

new plants, animals, and treasures. Our nation will become even greater than it already is,

and you, Highness, will have the means to reunite the Principalities into the Empire and

rightfully sit on the Throne of Heaven.”

36th day, Month of the Bat, Year of the Dog

9th Year of Imperial Prince Cyron’s Court

162nd Year of the Komyr Dynasty

736th year since the Cataclysm

Anturasikun, Moriande

Nalenyr

Keles fought to keep the surprise from his face and watched as his brother failed to do the

same. Keles had long understood the problem with determining longitude. While a variety

of clocks, from sundials and marked candles to water clocks and spring-wound clocks, did

allow timekeeping, none was precise enough to allow for the measurements a grand

survey required. Qiro had experimented for years with a variety of clocks, and though

Keles and Jorim had carried and religiously tended to them, upon their return to the capital

the time differential had been deemed unacceptable.

What surprised Keles was his grandfather embracing a device created by

a
gyanridin
.
Gyanri
was so recent a development, and one best understood outside Nalenyr, that local prejudice had dismissed it. Moreover, Qiro had pointed out that

while
gyanri
might create devices that gave skills to the unskilled, it would only work with crude, unintellectual tasks. In keeping with the common wisdom, he had declared it the

height of laziness to rely on devices for what training would provide. He had repeatedly

sent away people who came to him with devices that would copy maps automatically, or

could take readings of the sun and stars.

Yet now he champions this device.
The dual clock did seem the answer to countless

prayers, but his grandfather’s shift in opinion was so abrupt that it almost seemed the man

had lost his mind. In anyone else, Keles might have thought he had simply had a

revelation and relented in his previous opinion, but his grandfather was too complex for

that answer to satisfy him.

The Prince smiled. “I applaud your vision,
dicaikyr
Anturasi. The existence of this device, of course, must be kept secret. I can count on your complicity in this, Master Gryst?”

The blindfolded man nodded. “Oh yes, Highness. And my son, too. I’m sure he’s quite

forgotten about it, now that he has his new pouch-clock. That’s what he calls it, a pouch-

clock.”

“Splendid.” Prince Cyron slipped his hands into the opposite sleeves of his overshirt. “And

where is your son now? I should like to speak with him.”

“And I know he would like to speak with you, Highness. It would be an honor. I know it.”

“Good, have him report to me as soon as he can. After the Festival will be fine, but during

would be better.”

“Oh, Highness, I wish I could comply, but he’s probably in Solaeth now, or perhaps even

in Dolosan.”

The Prince’s eyebrow rose. “He’s in the wastelands?”

“On his way. That’s where one gets
thaumston,
Highness.”

“Yes, very true.” The Prince looked back at Qiro. “Perhaps you could have Master Gryst

escorted down to the gate? I will see him home after we converse for a moment.”

“Of course, Highness. Jorim, please do as the Prince asks.”

“Yes, Grandfather.” Jorim crossed and took Gryst by the elbow, guiding him from the

curtained area.

“Your pleasure, my Prince?” Qiro pointed to a side table with glasses and a pitcher.

“Keles, pour us some wine.”

“No, thank you,
dicaikyr
.”

Keles looked at his grandfather. “Will you drink?”

“No.” Qiro lifted his chin and clasped his hands at the small of his back. “What is it,

Highness?”

“First, congratulations on finding the dual clock and recognizing its potential. You realize,

of course, that the device Borosan Gryst is testing is . . . equally valuable. Its applications, especially as concerns our ability to defend ourselves against the Desei, cannot be

overvalued.”

Qiro nodded solemnly. “I have seen the value in it, too, for
my
applications, my Prince.

Keles and Jorim have the talent that allows them to send me images and information,

mind to mind. While this might not be as accurate as I would desire, the time saved is

invaluable. Such a device would let me field more survey teams and would provide a

check on the accuracy of the dual clock.”

“Good. Then we are of a mind.”

“That being, Highness?”

“That having Borosan Gryst in the Wastes is too dangerous. I will need you to prepare

charts that will allow a group to be dispatched to find him and return him to the capital.”

“An expedition to the Wastes, Highness?”

“Yes, Master Anturasi. The one we have long talked about will now be mounted. It will

require your charts, of course, else any chance of success is negligible.”

“My charts of that area are the best in the world, but they are still not very good.” Qiro

rubbed a hand over his forehead. “When the Cataclysm released the wild magic, it

wrought changes in what had been there before. While the centuries have brought a

retreat of the magic, it is not complete. The storms cycle strong and weak, and could still

be creating changes. I will make the charts—all based on
my
travels of course—but I

cannot swear by their accuracy.”

The Prince nodded. “That will have to do, though we will have to remedy that situation as

well. If
gyanri
can create things as powerful as what we are talking about, and the Wastes are the source of the
thaumston
that powers them, we will need to find deposits and

possess them, or destroy them. That is a matter of national importance.”